Consolation.
Pia and Jason Robbins lived in LA, but found more rest in Eugene, Oregon. There they recorded their fully convincing, highly melancholic debut Transplants, which they put out themselves and which rightly got airplay in the U.S. and in Europe here and there.
With Jason at the controls again and on acoustic and electric guitar, bass and percussion plus guests on drums, cello, glockenspiel and trombone, Pia and he sing and play ten perfectly sounding, layered folky pop songs on this somophore album, which was once more self-released.
On it, yet again beautifully melancholically sung ballads are alternated with mid tempo songs. They range from seemingly simple accompaniments on top of which Pia sings another melody to full-band songs in which some instrument or the background vocals create counter melodies. Pia’s voice, with its intriguing hoarse edge, then also convinces because of her tone, which suggests that she leaves much unsaid.
Jason’s past as an engineer and producer for Dwight Yoakam and Michelle Shocked amongst others can be traced back in his seductive production. He takes care of musically contrasting accents and an intimate, but clear and rich sound in songs that the two mostly wrote together. Thus Pia and Jason Robbind connect folk and pop in a personal and all too rare way. If they stay this course, they should be discovered sooner rather than later by fans of the Weepies, Aimee Mann and Shawn Colvin, in whose league they definitely belong.
***1/2